


Only One Call Away

by Written_prose_things



Series: Promise'Verse [6]
Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: F/M, M/M, No Beta, Phone Calls, baz is surprisingly a sap, it isn't actually a surprise but ok, shepard is bridezilla, simon is insecure about his voice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-03-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:34:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23091910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Written_prose_things/pseuds/Written_prose_things
Summary: Simon goes to America, three weeks before Penny's wedding, to help with the preparations and Baz stays back home to finish his finals. This is the longest time that the boys will have to spend apart since they got together.Baz comforts Simon, promising to call every day. But then why is it, that Simon barely ever picks up his calls?
Relationships: Penelope Bunce/Shepard, Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch/Simon Snow
Series: Promise'Verse [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1615396
Comments: 9
Kudos: 79





	Only One Call Away

When Penny had asked Simon to be her 'Mage of Honour', Baz hadn't expected Simon to cry. But life had surprised him in worse ways. On the other end of the skype call, it seemed as though Shepard was also beginning to tear up. Penny and Baz caught each other's eye and switched off the call before the two boys began crying together. The rest of the evening was spent with Simon curled around Baz on the sofa, as they binged some mindless television.   
  
After that Skype call, Simon's list of responsibilities kept on increasing, until a month before the wedding, when he decided to physically go to America to help out in the wedding preparations. With the week, his tickets were booked, but he seemed less eager to leave as the week drew to a close. At first, Baz couldn't figure out what was making him uncomfortable. It couldn't have been the fear of being left behind ( Curse Snow and his mindless sitcoms, Baz hated the fact that he had been about to use the word FOMO), as Simon and he had been engaged to be married for about half a year now.   
  
Finally, the evening before Simon's flight, he walked into the kitchen carrying rolled up t-shirts, and nudged Baz who was trying to cook some pasta. Baz switched off the burner and turned around just in time to catch the blonde boy in his arms. That's when it sunk in, that Simon was wary of going to America because he would miss Baz. Baz sighed and put a lid on the container of boiling water.   
When Simon was in his clingy moods, Baz wasn't permitted to do anything other than cuddle him. Mind you, not that anything else was possible when the blue-eyed boy stared up at Baz so sweetly. Baz cast a quick _**Couch Potato**_ , and they were lying on the sofa. Baz played with Simon's nest of curls and tried to wheedle out the reason for his discomfort ( Baz always liked to confirm what was going on inside Simon's head; although he was much less non-verbal than before, his mind still went a mile a minute)   
  
Simon whispered slowly, " We won't be able to see each other, for the next few weeks."

Baz replied, " I know darling, but you will have a blast with Penny, Shepard and everyone else. Plus its just three weeks, I'll be there as soon as I finish my finals. And it isn't like we live in the dark ages, I'll call you every day."  
  
This didn't seem to put Simon at ease as Baz expects, but a small smile did grace his lips. Baz combed his hands through Simon's hair and kissed him softly. A little while later, they ordered some Chinese takeaway and wasted an hour talking and laughing with each other. Baz sent Simon to bed much earlier than usual, so that he could wake up on time for his flight, and proceeded to spend an hour on revising his macro-economics notes.  
  
The next day he dropped Simon at the Heathrow airport and makes his way back to campus for his last classes of the semester.   
  
\-------x--------  
  


Four days later, Baz sits on the kitchen countertop and taps the fingers of his right hand on the countertop, as his second call of the day to Simon gets sent to voicemail with a sad little beep.   
Simon's excuses for not picking up his phone call are becoming very flimsy. They decide a time for Baz to call Simon, but without fail, Simon gets busy with some non-issue right before their call. Baz contemplates messaging Simon and asking him why he isn't picking up his phone. But, Penny might kill him, if that makes Simon wallow in guilt.   
  
Baz sighs and picks up the phone, but he has no other option. Penny won't be picking up calls (Obviously busy with the preparations), her mum is in London right now, and Baz doesn't know anyone else at the venue that well to call them up.   
Baz dials Shepard's number. As soon as the call connects, Shepard is screaming into Baz's ear, " I swEAR TO GOD! BAZ IF YOU'VE CALLED ME UP TO TELL ME YOU'RE NOT COMING, I WILL..." Baz hears heavy breathing, Shepard is collecting his thoughts, " I WILL, I'LL END YOU, OK? I WILL STEAL PENNY'S WAND AND COME AFTER YOU! I KNOW LOTS OF MAGIC, UNDERSTOOD?"   
Baz knows a lost cause when he sees one. He simply replies, " Sheppard, please stop being so dramatic, obviously I'll make it to the wedding. I was only calling up to see how you are."  
Shepard's reply is prompt, "Baz..." He hears a faint sniffle on the other end of the line. Honestly, even Mordelia didn't go through such mood-swings during her puberty.   
  
Shepard's full-on crying brings back Baz's attention to the conversation. At this point, Shepard is just babbling and sniffling, which Baz can't handle.  
He contemplates the easiest and least offensive way of cutting the call but suddenly the phone being man-handled, and Penny is on the line.  
"Baz, what the fuck do you want right now?" Baz never thought he'd hear Penny hiss.  
She continues," Shepard's lost the plot here and you're calling him up? Text your boyfriend if you're bored!"  
  
Baz sighs, "That might just be an issue. Your blue-eyes best friend is not picking up his phone-"  
  
Penny snorts, which throws Baz off, " Why? What's so funny?"   
  
Baz can hear Penny roll her eyes, " Baz when have you ever called Simon?"  
  
Baz replies, " We've never been that far that we had to call each other."  
  
Penny concedes, "Touché. But have you ever seen Simon _call_ anyone?"  
  
Baz only hums indecisively, and Penny is quick to take her opportunity, " _Exactly._ He doesn't do calls."  
  
Baz snorts, " What do you mean _doesn't do calls_? what's there to do? He just has to pick up the call, and it isn't like we didn't decide to call each other-"  
  
Penny interrupts what is about to become a long snarky monologue quickly, " Baz look, I told you what I do know. Simon doesn't do calls. Now, it's up to you to figure out why he agreed to calls if he wasn't going to pick up. I've got to go now, you've left Shepard in a state. Be guarded when you come here, Baz. I might just hex you over whatever headache you've created for me."  
  
Penny drops the call and Baz sits down on the floor marble of the kitchen with the support of the cabinets. He runs his hands through his hair as he tries to recall when he's seen Simon call anyone.   
  
Maybe Simon doesn't like taking on calls, because Baz has noticed that Simon rarely speaks on the video calls with Penny when she heads off to America.  
  
Baz decided not to push the issue, whatever might Simon's reason behind it may be. He only decides to head to America in two weeks rather than waiting for three weeks. The last finals are just submissions of papers for psychology and macro-economics, which Baz can easily e-mail to his professors.   
  
\-----xxx-----  
  
Once his tickets are booked, Baz calls up Penny, " I'm coming to America."  
  
Penny snorts, " Yeah, thanks for confirming that, I'll let Shepard know."  
  
Baz continues, "No, I'm coming this weekend."  
  
Penny pauses, " _Baz_ , the wedding isn't till next weekend, why are you arriving a week early?"  
  
Baz sighs, " To talk to Simon."  
  
Penny hums, " So, he doesn't know you're coming? And you want me to send him to the airport to pick you up?"  
  
Baz grins, " You're a gem, Bunce."  
  
\----xxx------  
  
Baz arrives in Omaha on a sunny day. A baby on the plane was playing with his scrunchie, and promptly lost it, so now his hair is open.   
He heads straight out of the airport, all his clothes had easily fit in his carry-on, after a quick spell. He spots Simon standing in the arrivals lounge, eyes flitting around, trying to find someone familiar. Baz heads up to Simon and sees his expression change.  
Simon looks delighted, then disbelief floods his face before he goes back to smiling widely.  
  
He runs up to Baz and hugs him tightly. Baz gets light-headed when he smells Simon's scent after so long. Baz can't help but hold onto his boyfriend longer than necessary.   
They separate after a while and head to the parking. Simon loves driving, he quickly loads Baz's bag in the boot and gets in.  
  
  
Simon seems normal to Baz, they talk till they reach Shepard's house. Simon doesn't seem uncomfortable at all, which makes Baz reconsider his decision. Maybe Simon was busy when he said he couldn't pick up calls.  
  
Baz tries to ask Simon about the same when they get closer to Shepard's house, but the blonde evades the question. As soon as the pair reach the house, Premal comes running out and drags Simon away, mumbling something about flower arrangements. Baz is left to pick up his bag and go inside.  
  
On the inside, the house is filled to the brim with little knick-knacks, garlands, boxes on boxes of decorations and piles of clothes. Baz gets taken aback, he knew that Penny and Shepard were having an Indian wedding, but he didn't expect it on such a scale. Baz walks over the threshold just in time for someone to bump into him. It's Penny's younger sister.   
  
Priya looks positively delighted to see him. "Oh, Baz. I didn't know you were coming here this early!"  
  
Baz simply nods, and motions to his bag, " Could you tell me where I should leave this?"  
  
Priya scratches her head, looking exactly like her elder sister, " Why don't you leave your bag in Simon's room." She points towards a door at the corner of the living room, " Straight down, last room to your left."  
  
Baz walks through the living room and opens the door to find a wide hallway. Clearly, Penny has magicked it. Baz walks into Simon's room and sets his bag down next to the unmade bed and flops down. He only wants to rest for a moment, but Simon's soothing smell on the bedsheets and his jetlag put him in deep sleep.   
  
\---xxx----  
  
Baz only wakes up when the sky outside the window has darkened considerably, with a wriggling weight on his back. Baz swallows around the foul taste in his mouth before saying something.   
  
"Honestly Snow, go to sleep somewhere else."  
  
He receives a jab right on his spine, which he assumes is unintentional and Simon grouses, " You absolute lump, you've left no space for me to sleep comfortably."  
  
Baz wriggles his toes, and he has to concede. He is lying like a starfish on the bed, with hands falling off one end and his feet off the other edge. Baz groans and rolls over, smushing Simon between his back and the bed.   
  
Simon laughs, " Oi idiot. get off! Don't smother me to death."  
  
Baz slides of the bed and considers his feet, still clad in the shoes he's been wearing for almost 15 hours. He glances at his boyfriend from the corner of his eye, and the blonde boy is already shaking his head aggressively.  
  
"Baz, I love you, but no. Please, you've been wearing those shoes for more than half a day, and I am not interested in that smell. Go outside and take them off or so help me God, I will throw you out with those godforsaken shoes."   
  
Baz just shakes his head and walks out of the room. He finds it both very cute and aggravating that he's picked up Simon's messy habits, while his boyfriend has become such a neat-freak.   
  
When he comes back into the house, he sees Penny lying on the couch, her head cushioned on a sleeping Shepard's chest. It seems impossible that in the five minutes that he was gone, Penny got Shepard to sit down and go to sleep.  
  
Penny peers at Baz through her glasses, " So, have you finally remembered whose wedding you're here for?"  
  
Baz smirks and runs a hand over his face, " I nodded off, a 10-hour flight does that to you."  
  
Penny nods, and her eyes become unfocused slowly; clearly, she's had a tough day. Baz is about to head back to Simon's room when Penny whispers, " Did you talk to him?"  
  
Baz replies, "No, I didn't get the time-" he's about to give a further explanation when Penny's snores fill the room.  
  
Baz rolls his eyes fondly and heads off. He enters Simon's room to find his boyfriend sprawled across the bed, with his phone inches from his nose. When Baz closes the door with a click, Simon promptly looks over, with a bright smile, and his phone entirely forgotten.  
  
Baz can't help but smile, " Glad to know that I'm more important than your phone."  
  
Simon laughs, " Baz you're more important than anything or anyone else."  
  
Baz has to physically restraint himself from kissing his boyfriend stupid. Instead, he lies down next to Simon, stares up at the ceiling and tries to ask the question he's been dying to ask, " So, you missed me?"  
  
Simon nudges him with his wing-tip, " Of course I did. Is that even a question?"  
  
Baz shakes head before continuing, " So then why didn't you pick up any of my calls?"  
  
Simon is quick to reply, " I told you, I was busy with the flowers, and the dresses, and all the other things that need to be set-up."  
  
Up close, Simon's excuses seem even flimsier. His body goes rigid and he tries to avoid eye contact.  
  
Baz sighs, " Love, I don't want to force you into talking on the phone with me. I only want you to let me know if something I say makes you uncomfortable, alright?"  
  
Simon nods and sits up, before saying his bit, " Yeah, alright. I don't like talking on the phone, or video-chats... it just." He shrugs before continuing, " makes me uncomfortable. But that doesn't mean that I didn't want to talk to you"  
  
Baz nods and gets up as well, " No, darling. That isn't what I was trying to imply. it's okay if you don't want to talk on the phone."  
  
Simon nods and smiles, " Yeah, okay. Anyways, I saved some dinner for you..."  
  
Baz follows Simon out of his room and knows that the conversation is over.  
  
  
\-----XXXX----  
  
The next few days pass in a flurry. Simon and Baz are both busy helping out. As the wedding day nears, Shepard's daily meltdowns become far more frequent. Even if Baz wants to continue the conversation, he can't because both the boys go out like lights as soon as they hit the bed.   
  
Finally, Baz gets some time with Simon one day after lunch, when everyone else is sleeping.   
  
"Simon, why don't you like talking on the phone? "  
  
Simon is shucking off his shirt when Baz asks this question and he freezes for a second. He takes his sweet time in answering the question, putting on another shirt before shrugging, " I... I guess, I just don't like it."  
  
Baz nods, "Okay, was it something I said? Or did? To make you feel uncomfortable about talking to me on the phone?"  
  
Simon shakes his head, " No. Baz, this.. this doesn't have anything to do with you. I just don't like talking on the phone."  
  
Baz takes Simon's hands in his own. They make eye contact, and Simon realises that Baz isn't going to let it go this time.  
  
"Why don't you like talking on the phone, Simon?"  
  
"Because... I don't know. It's just uncomfortable."  
  
"But why, Simon? Why don't you like talking on the phone?"  
  
"Because I don't like my voice, okay? I do not like how I sound. I sound weird. I have a weird voice, limited vocabulary, no precision of speech and I can't convey what I feel like saying, alright?"  
  
Baz considers what he wants to say. If he missteps even slightly, it'll hurt Simon a lot. While everything Simon's said isn't false, it does prove that whatever he's just said about himself is something he's overheard.   
  
Baz steels himself and asks, even though he can assume where Simon's heard this, "Simon, who told you this?"  
  
Simon just shrugs before answering, " Something the speech therapist lady would say."  
  
Baz sighs, " I don't agree with her. You can convey your ideas very well, and that is the whole point of talking. But even if it takes you a little more time to get your point across, I don't see the issue. It's not like I have limited time on the phone with you, or that I'll hang up if we don't finish having a conversation in 5 minutes?"  
  
Simon just nods and lies down on the bed. Baz runs his hands through Simon's thick curls before continuing, " I know that me saying this about your voice and ability to talk isn't going to make you comfortable instantaneously. I don't even expect you to call me...Just remember, the next time you're feeling low about your voice, that your voice is my favourite thing to hear, okay?"  
  
\----XXX----  
  
Baz has to head back home right after the wedding ceremony because his professor still needs him to come in and give his viva for the psychology final. Simon drops him off, and they share a kiss, which definitely lasts longer than it should in decent company if the by-standers' stares are anything to go by.  
He spends the flight back catching up on sleep and kicks into work mode as soon as the plane lands. He spends his entire day on campus, giving his viva, then in the supermarket, and finally on the bed, eating Indian takeaway and scrolling mindlessly through his phone.   
  
When Baz's phone rights in the dead silence, he almost spills the curry. At first, he believes that he's already fallen asleep. But the phone doesn't stop ringing.  
Finally, Baz picks up the call and mumbles, " Hello." still expecting it to be a butt-dial  
  
Simon's voice is faint on the other side, "Hey Baz."  
  
Baz can't help but ask, " Is everything okay?"  
  
Simon replies brightly, " Yup. Everything's great."  
  
Baz clears his throat, "So..."

Simon takes over, " You want to ask me why I called you?"  
  
Baz replies promptly, " Yeah, I am interested in knowing that..."  
  
Baz can hear the smile in his boyfriend's voice when he says, " Well, I can't just deprive you of your favourite thing in the world, can I?"

**Author's Note:**

> Yup, so I've decided to roll with the prompts I get...
> 
> Here goes nothing.


End file.
